STRUCTURAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL INSIGHTS INTO ZINC OXIDE CONTAINING POLY (VINYL ALCOHOL-G-ACRYLONITRILE) NANOCOMPOSITE MEMBRANES.

In the present study ZnO nanoparticles containing poly (vinyl alcohol-g-acrylonitrile)(PVA-g-PAN) nanocomposites membranes were fabricated and characterized by various analytical methods. PVA was grafted with polyacrylonitrile chains by free radical polymerization method and thereafter zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were impregnated within the polymer matrix by an in-situ precipitation method. The synthesized materials were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy while size of the crystallites and extent of crystallinity were ascertained by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the ZnO nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed within the graft copolymer matrix. Moreover, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results clearly indicated that the size of nanoparticles varied in the range 10-30 nm. The surface morphology and topography of the PVA/ZnO nanocomposites films were investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The nanocomposite films were found to absorb UV radiations significantly thus opening an avenue to use these materials as radiation protective coatings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]